jeffwongdesign

After reviewing all my options, I’ve decided to put my condo up for sale. I’ve lived here for about 7 years, and after weighing my finances, logic dictates that I get my equity out of the house and put it towards the next things in life.

It’s time to look forward, because that’s where we’re going to live.

And in that statement, I’ve had to make some hard decisions. Moving sounds simple, but there’s so much more to it… especially when you you’re downsizing and simplifying.

And that’s the key word, “simplify”. As I reduce the amount of things I take with me, I realized how much stuff I’ve acquired over the years, and how little I’ve actually curated my belongings.

Would you believe that I’ve been shaving my head with the same $20 clippers since high school? That’s one hell of a purchase that’s paid itself off numerous times. I can’t say that about all the other stuff I’ve kept around for the last two decades.

As I prep my condo for sale, I’ve decided to categorize things into 3 buckets.

1. Things I haven’t used in a year.
These are things that need to be sold, given away, or disposed. While it may seem like a trivial task, it’s hard to throw away things that I’ve spent money on at one point or another. These will be the largest branches of stuff to prune. I’d say about 90% of my belongings will fall into this category.

2. Things that I use frequently.
Stuff like my toothbrush, laptop, cloths, and daily items fall into this bucket. I’d also like to say my stereo, TV, couch and car could be lumped into this as well. While I don’t need my TV, it’s just a really nice thing to have, and makes a new venue feel more like home. In general, I’d like to make sure that my basic necessities only take up 3 boxes max.

3. Lastly, the “keep-sake” and sentimental items.
These are things like photographs, relics that have been handed down to me, and personal gifts people have given me over the years. These are items that cannot be replaced, and are in some ways priceless to me. The goal is to keep this bucket limited to a single box. This will be the most challenging to curate.

And once I can get things down to the bare essentials, I’d like to try living a more simple life for a while. As a rule, if I purchase anything new, it needs to replace something within my collection.

There’s an old saying in design, “less is more”.

My mom has echoed this to me over the last few years as well. It makes a lot of sense, but living under those conditions requires one to be more thoughtful with each choice. Keeping your belongings down to a limited mass is challenging. But, if you can do it, I think you’ll have less things to maintain, and ultimately less distractions.

It’s been an emotional week pruning all my stuff. I’d say I’m about 80% there. Like I said earlier, I just have to keep looking forward because that’s where I’ll be living. I’m hoping I can share a photo of what I’m actually taking with me to Cali and what sentimental box contains. Stay tuned.